The single-channel Incarnator takes its title from the Spanish word encarnador, referring to those who apply the final brushes of flesh-toned paint on Catholic icons, and thereby imbue the sculptures with a sense of vivacity and reality. Splicing together disparate types of sourced and filmed content—from footage of an annual Catholic procession in the Philippines to a Justin Bieber concert in Mexico and the making of a wooden Justin Bieber statue—Pfeiffer’s video explores notions of production, in particular how image production has become an essential part of today’s global capitalism. The recurring juxtaposition of scenes of devotional activities with images of the singer Bieber hints at the almost religious fervor that is both driven by and fuels the celebrity culture industry. This is underscored by footage from a YouTube clip of two Bangladeshi girls singing the 2017 international hit “Despacito.”
